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Gustavo Fring
Gustavo "Gus" Fring is a highly intelligent and influential drug distributor in the Southwest, headquarted in New Mexico with ties to dealers in other states like Arizona, Texas and Nevada. He was previously connected to the Ciudad Juarez cartel in Mexico, where his contact was Juan Bolsa. Despite having been in business for 20 years, he has never been caught and few people know what he looks like. This is due in large part to his established role as a legitimate businessman in Albuquerque - he owns fourteen franchises (throughout the southwest) of the fast food restaurant Los Pollos Hermanos and has operated a large industrial laundromat for years. He also conducts his business with extreme caution, never dealing with drug addicts or those he sees as having "poor judgment." In his personal life, he lives in a typical suburban neighborhood with a wife and children, playing the role of a devoted family man. His loved ones are completely in the dark about his drug operation and assume he simply spends his days managing the various businesses. Character History Little is known about Gus's past, except that he grew up as a child in Chile. Season 2 Gus is introduced to Walter and Jesse after the two's failed efforts to sell their meth leads to their street dealers either being killed, arrested or quitting. Saul Goodman makes the blunt observation "you two suck at peddling meth," but as the two still have 38 pounds remaining, Saul offers to connect them with a distributor through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy." Saul manages to arrange a meeting between Walt, Jesse and the distributor at a Los Pollos restaurant, but when Jesse turns up for the meeting late, presumably high and agitated, the dealer does not make contact. Saul says later they likely blew their chance, but Walt, after some consideration, returns to the restaurant on his own. Asking to see the manager - Gus, who it turns out had stopped by their table on the earlier restaurant visit to see if they were enjoying their meal - he deduces that Gus is their contact after all. He praises Gus for his discipline and caution, saying that he sees the two as alike in that regard. Gus then drops his facade, saying that Walter is not cautious at all and exhibits poor judgment by bringing the obviously high Jesse to a meeting. Walt counters that the quality of his product should outweigh any of these concerns and that Gus will never have to see or deal with Jesse. Gus demurs on whether or not the two will deal, but then on a later visit by Walt he is approached by Gus's henchman, Victor, with a final deal: $1.2 million for the remaining 38 pounds, delivered in one hour or not at all . After the deal goes down, we see Gus with two other local businessmen meeting Hank at the DEA Albuquerque office regarding a fun run they are sponsoring. Gus notices Walt's photo on a donation jar and asks if Walt is an agent. Hank explains that Walt is his brother-in-law and that he is fighting lung cancer. While it is implied that Gus already looked into Walt's background before making the deal, this confirms Gus is aware of Walt's health issues and family connection to the DEA . Season 3 Following the success of the previous deal, Gus invites Walt back to Los Pollos and makes a new offer: $3 million for three months of his time. Walt, seriously jarred by the plane collision over Albuquerque and his separation from Skyler, refuses the offer by claiming he is not a criminal and wants to be done with the business . Gus seems to accept this, but later, when private investigator Mike calls Gus's henchman Victor to inform him that the Cousins are ready to kill Walt, he uses his influence with the cartel to call off the hit . Meeting with Juan Bolsa, the Cousins and Tio Salamanca, Gus is told that the cartel holds Walt responsible for the death of Tuco - an important man in their organization - and that his execution has been sanctioned. Gus says that while he has no issues with their right to vengeance, he is presently in business with Walt and does not want him killed until that business has concluded. Bolsa agrees to advise the Salamanca family to be patient, but warns Gus that delaying could cost him his high standing with the cartel . Successfully baiting Walt with half the money from a drug deal Jesse made through Saul, Gus invites him to his industrial laundromat where he reveals the details of his offer: he has constructed a massive "superlab" underneath the laundromat for mass producing methamphetamine. Receiving legitimate chemical deliveries every week and able to filter the byproducts of cooking meth via the laundry's filtration systems, the facility is capable of producing at least 200 pounds of a week. Swaying Walt with the high-tech apparatus of the lab, he closes the deal by appealing to Walt's pride in providing for his family . With Walt's services engaged alongside Gale Boetticher in the lab, Gus's attention turns to the Cousins, who have taken to sitting in his Los Pollos restaurant all day, ordering nothing and saying nothing. He reiterates that Walt will not die until their business is finished, and offers the Cousins permission to take their vengeance on Hank, who was Tuco's actual killer . However, when the Cousins make their move to kill Hank while he is unarmed in a store parking lot, an anonymous person calls Hank and, using a voice modifier, warns him of the impending attack. It is this warning that allows Hank to get the jump on the Cousins and take them down . After the attack on Hank, Bolsa contacts Gus demanding an explanation, as the Cousins would never have shot Hank without approval. He concedes that meth shipments will be delayed indefinitely, then vows to learn the truth about the assassination plot from the surviving cousin, Leonel. Shortly afterwards, Gus goes to the hospital with a large buffet of fried chicken for the police officers keeping vigil over Hank, also revealing that he is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the assailants. In a room with Walt, Skyler, Marie, Walt Jr. and ASAC Merkert, he mentions that he knew Hank from the fun run sponsorship and that Hank was raising money for Walt's cancer treatments at the time. Walt, speaking to Gus afterwards, expresses that Hank is not a danger to their arrangement but he continues to fear for his family's safety. Gus simply says that he investigates everyone he does business with and doesn't feel there is anything to worry about, as the surviving assassin's survival is doubtful. Shortly afterwards, Leonel goes into cardiac arrest and dies - murdered by a lethal injection from Mike. Following this death, Bolsa calls Gus up, angrily stating that he thinks Gus was behind both the authorization of the shooting and the death of the second Cousin, possibly as a move to break away from the cartel. Promising that he will weather the federal attentions and find proof of Gus's treason, he is interrupted by glass breaking and gunfire as unseen assailants gun down his bodyguards and then him. Hearing Bolsa die on the other end, Gus quietly smiles, breaks and discards the cell phone . As the methamphetamine production accelerates, Gus's method of distribution is revealed: he has the meth broken up into pound bags, concealed in buckets of batter for fried chicken marked with a star only visible under ultraviolet light, and taken to other states in Los Pollos Hermanos trucks. Walt, after calculating how much Gus stands to make off the deal - $96 million at wholesale price - meets with him to voice his theory that the establishment of the superlab was part of his overall strategy to cut the cartel out and establish himself as the chief distributor of the Southwest. He also says that he sees the shooting of Hank as part of this play, both to increase federal attention on the cartel and ensure Walt's safety. While not acknowledging the truth of this statement, Gus does agree to a raise and an open-ended extension of Walt's contract - $15 million a year - as well as continued protection of his family . Season 4 Mike calls Gus on his cell phone shortly after he hears from Victor about Gale's death at the hands of Jesse. A significant amount of time amount after this, he arrives at the superlab, gets undressed, changes into a hazmat suit, and viciously slits Victor's throat, holding him firmly and directing the aim of the blood in Walt and Jesse's direction. He remains eerily calm during the murder, and after he feels Victor die, gazes at the two of them with anger and disappointment and leaves his dead henchman on the floor while he washes up and changes back into his original clothes. The only words he speaks to them are "Well...get back to work" before he exits, leaving them to clean up the mess he made and dispose of the corpse. He tells Mike later that he does not want to lay his eyes on Walt ever again, which Mike tells Walt. He also hires a new henchman, Tyrus, who he instructs to go down into the lab and help Walt and Jesse with their cooking. Walt, fearing for his life and desperate, drives to Gus's house at night and plans on killing him in front of his family. As he walks to the driveway, he gets a phone call from Tyrus who's watching him nearby and is warned to leave. Gus gives Mike the go-ahead when Mike reports him of Jesse's current behavior. Trivia *Gus drives a modest, blue Volvo V70 station wagon, as to "hide in plain sight" . *According to a phone conversation that Tio has (as depicted via flashblack), it is implied that Gus is from South America. Gus cooks his favorite Chilean dish when he invites Walt over for dinner and comments that the taste takes him back to his childhood, further implying that he may be from Chile. *When conducting business, Gus tends to keep his hands on the table in plain sight. *You can sometimes hear his accent slip when he is angry or distressed. This is somewhat apparent when he meets Walter to talk about the killing of the two drug dealers. Category:Characters Category:Characters